Q i Dark Age Facts......

In Norse folklore, both the Acorn and its bearer, the oak tree, bring good fortune. The Vikings associated oak trees with Thor, the god who created thunder and lightning with his great anvil and hammer. Because the tree attracted lightning, it was sacred to Thor. Thus they believed that the Acorn, the fruit of the oak tree, was always spared the God's wrath, and so they began putting a lone Acorn on their windowsills to protect their homes from lightning's wrath.

What is the difference between Norse and Viking?

"Norse" is the name we give to the Germanic tribes who emigrated and settled in Scandinavia around the year 1000 BC. In the 8th century AD, the Norse started building fine and very versatile ships that allowed them to travel long distances. This was the beginning of the Viking age.

The Norse society was composed by farmers, slaves and chieftains or aristocrats. Helped by the speed of their ships, some of the farmers and chieftains would become pirates during the summer and would go to raid and pillage foreign villages. These were the Vikings.

"Viking" was a verb used to describe a temporary lifestyle. Most Norsemen would stay in their villages for all their lives, but some young and adventurous farmers would go "viking" or raiding for some months or for some years to earn their living on piracy. Therefore, all Vikings were Norse, but not all Norsemen were Vikings.

Cruel and bloodthirsty pirates or great traders and explorers?

With such magnificent ships, the Norse began travelling and trading first around the Baltic Sea and then on to southern Europe, Russia, the Caspian Sea, Africa, the Middle East, India and Asia. As they travelled around the world, some Norsemen found out that stealing was much easier than trading. The perfect targets to go viking were the wealthy and poorly defended monasteries of western Europe.

Christian documents of the time depict the Vikings as bloodthirsty savages who would destroy and pillage everything they could. This is true, but viking pirates were not particularly more cruel than any European army of that age.

The Vikings were the international tradesmen of their time. They traded silk and spices from Constantinople, amber from the Baltic, iron from Scandinavia, slaves from Russia and furs and walrus ivory from Iceland and Greenland. The Vikings kept open the trade route between East and West Europe at a time when trade routes through the Mediterranean were unsafe.

As they travelled around the world, they began to explore and settle in foreign lands. They populated Iceland and Greenland, they temporarily settled in north America, controlled the Duchy of Normandy in France, founded the city of Dublin in Ireland, and made the English city of York the most important town outside of London. The places ruled by the Norse were politically stable and flourishing by medieval standards. The Norse created the first modern parliament in the world in Thingvellir, Iceland, at a time when Europe was still living in the feudal ages.

Here are some facts about Anglo-Saxon paganism.

It is thought that the Anglo-Saxons might have believed in seven realms. The realm inhabited by humans was called Middangeard (like Midgard from Norse Mythology). Another of the realms might have been Neorxnawang (a bit like Heaven from Christianity).

The Anglo-Saxon’s believed in many deities (gods).

Woden was the most widely worshipped Anglo-Saxon god. Woden was the ‘carrier of the dead’ and similarities have been identified between Woden, Odin (the Norse god) and Mercury (the Roman god).

When the Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity, Woden was re-invented as a legendary Anglo-Saxon king, and many Anglo-Saxon rulers claimed they were descended from Woden.

Thunor, the god of thunder and the sky, was another important Anglo-Saxon deity. Worshipped by the common man, Thunor’s symbols were the hammer and swastika. There are many similarities between Thunor and the Norse god Thor

Tiw may have been an Anglo-Saxon god of war, and Frige may have been the goddess of love or feasting (or both).

Other Anglo-Saxon gods included: Frey (possibly a sacrificial deity), Seaxneat (worshipped by the East Saxon tribes), Eostre and Hretha (both mentioned in the works of Bede).

The Anglo-Saxons also believed in elves (evil creatures), dwarves, ettins and dragons.

They worshipped at a variety of different religious sites, ranging from purpose built wooden-framed temples to sacred trees and hilltops.

Animal sacrifices were part of the Anglo-Saxon religion. Oxen and boars were ceremonially killed to honour the gods.

Anglo-Saxon burials took a number of different forms, some tribes favoured cremation, whereas others buried their dead. Burial mounds started to be used in 6th century. Ship burials also took place (for example at the Sutton Hoo site).

During pagan times in Scandinavia, women were the chief practitioners of magical medicine. The Eddic poems reference many instances of incantations, usually chanted by females. These charms are not written down so we don’t know if they were meant to cure particular ailments or restore good fortune in general. There were several categories of pagan priests, soothsayers or those who recited incantations, as well as a subordinate echelon of individuals who made a living practicing magic arts and powers. Among these individuals was a category called a vǫlva, a type of female seer who appears in poetry and prose.The term vǫlva is translated as “prophetess” or “sibyl” and comes from the root word that means “magical staff”. Many times in Norse literature these female prophets are depicted carrying a staff. In the sagas, the vǫlva travels from farm to farm, sometimes with an entourage answering questions about the future such as the outcome of the coming farm season or men’s destinies. The vǫlva is greeted respectfully and a feast would be celebrated in her honor. Before replying to a specific question, the vǫlva would go into a trance or dream state and summon spirits, usually sitting on a stage. Her assistants would accompany her, singing chants and incantations. After the chants, she would pronounce her prophecies of good fortune and respond to questions.One of the fullest accounts of this type of séance comes from the “The Saga of Eirik the Red” written in the late thirteenth century which recounts events in the settlement of Greenland in the beginning of the eleventh century. Although this account may have been fiction, the author seems to have knowledge of these events and processes.The writer tells us there was a woman in Greenland, a vǫlva named Ƿorbjörg, who went from farm to farm in the winter to answer questions about the coming harvest and men’s fate and fortunes. The prior season had been particularly bad and men were especially anxious to know the outcome of the upcoming harvest. The greatest farmer in the area named Ƿórkell invited Ƿorbjörg into his home. A high seat was prepared for her and a cushion filled with hen feathers placed on the chair.The “Saga” describes her appearance:She was wearing a blue strapped cloak, all set with stones down to the hem; she had glass beads round her neck, and on her head a black lambskin hood with the lining of white catskin; and in her hand she had a staff with a knob on it, which was mounted with brass and had stones set in it round the base of the knob. She had a belt of touch-wood round her, and on it was a large skin pouch in which she kept her charms which she had to have for her magic. She had hairy calfskin shoes on her feet, and long shoelaces with big tin knobs on the ends; she had on her hands gloves of catskin, white inside, and hairy.She was given a special dish of porridge made of kid’s milk and another dish made of hearts of all the living creatures available. When the feast was over and the tables removed, farmer Ƿórkell asked Ƿorbjörg how she liked his household and when would he know the answers to his questions. She said she would have the answers the next day and requested a female helper who could chant the Warlock-Song. There was a woman in the crowd who knew the chant and was persuaded to participate.The next day Ƿorbjörg mounted the platform which women had surrounded in a ring. The séance began. The helper sang the chant beautifully and everyone commented on well it was sung. After the chant ended and the spirits were summoned, the vǫlva voiced her prophecies of good fortune and answered everyone’s questions. She then departed for the next farm.

Who were the Valkyries?

In Norse Mythology the Valkyries were virginal women who searched the battlefields for the souls of the dead to become einheriar (pronounced ine-hair-3ee-are), which were then taken up to Valhalla (the equivalent of heaven) and drink, eat and be trained to fight in the battle of Ragnarok (equivilent of apocalypse).